a very good paper sent one day by a gentleman in Edinburgh, to be
perused by this council. The Prince, when he heard it read, said that it
was below his dignity to enter into such a reasoning with subjects, and
ordered the paper to be laid aside. The paper afterwards was printed
under the title of the Prince's Declaration to the People of England,
and is esteemed the best manifesto published in those times; for the
ones that were printed at Rome and Paris were reckoned not well
calculated for the present age."
Before the Prince had left Edinburgh, intrigues had begun to distract
his councils. "An ill-timed emulation," remarks an eye-witness of the
rebellion, "soon crept in, and bred great dissension and animosities:
the council was insensibly divided into factions, and came to be of
little use, when measures were approved of, or condemned, not for
themselves, but for the sake of their author."[241] Unhappily, the Duke
of Perth, amiable, but inexperienced and unsuspecting, confided in one
whose machinations, guided by an unbounded love of rule, eventually
accelerated the ruin of the cause.
The very name of Murray of Broughton recalls with a shudder the
remembrance of selfish ambition and treachery. This unprincipled man,
private secretary to Charles Edward, had a remarkable influence over the
young Chevalier's mind; an influence acquired during a long and intimate
acquaintance abroad. "He was," observes Mr. Maxwell, "the only personal
acquaintance the Prince found in Scotland." To a desire of having the
sole government of the Prince's council he "sacrificed what chance there
was of a restoration, although upon that all his hopes were built." The
expedition to Scotland and England was, according to the same authority,
the entire suggestion of Murray; and the credit of that success which
had hitherto attended the attempt, was now solely attributed to the
secretary's advice. "The Duke of Perth," adds the same writer, "judging
of Murray's heart by his own, entertained the highest opinion of his
integrity, went readily into all his schemes, and confirmed the Prince
in the esteem he had already conceived for Murray."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account